They all glanced up when the doorbell rang. "Pizza Yay!" Jane cheered as she got up to open the door.
"Hey Sis!" Tommy greeted with a grin. "Interrupting something?" Jane became aware of her flushed face. She had totally forgotten their appointment. He was supposed to come by and pick up her drawings to prepare the parts. Her project had also gone forgotten.
Tommy walked into the house before she could react and stopped at the door to the living room. Of course, she had told her family that they were looking for adoption, not mentioning that they couldn't get kids on their own. It had been a miracle in itself that her mother hadn't asked. But she was probably happy that they wanted to have kids at all.
She saw Tommy's questioning look when noticing that the boy looked a lot like Maura, but gratefully he didn't say a word. "Well, if I had known I would have brought TJ. The boys could have played."
Brian was back to his reclusive position and Jane sensed that he wanted to run. But he sat still with his head hanging. "Yeah, might me a good idea next time. Tommy this is Brian. Brian this is Tommy." She tried to play it cool.
"This is my big brother who is going to make the parts for our plane." She added. Brian remained silent. Sometimes she could kiss her brothers like Tommy now because he sensed that Biran needed some space. they were far more sensitive than her mother. "Should we go and have a look?" he asked.
Jane nodded and led him to the office. "Bit shy huh?" Tommy asked silently and Jane nodded explaining that they had decided to foster him. Tommy smiled and patted her shoulder. "Growing up sis." He stated and Jane noticed how proud he sounded.
"Oh, you are just glad that Ma has a second grandchild sort of." She teased to deflect from her emotions. "Sure. She's spoiling him to death I swear." He complained and Jane laughed. Tommy glanced to the half-finished model plane on her desk. "You haven't done that in a long time." He said and Jane nodded. "Looks like Brian and I have some things in common. He's pretty good at it." She said, without noticing the boy appearing in the doorway.
"Yes, he is. Like you." Tommy gently said. Jane silently rolled her eyes. She had loved building models with her father. Until he decided that he was more interested in other women than her mother that was. Jane remembered the nightly fights of her parents. The puffy red eyes from her mother the next morning. She hated the pain she saw there, and she began to hate her father.
And seeing how model building was always connected to him, she had stopped from one day to the other.
Jane nodded slightly as she picked up the drawings and showed them to Tommy. Her brother looked at them for a while. "Do you think we could do it?" Jane asked and Tommy nodded. "Yes. It will be okay. It will take me at least three weeks though. I have a lot of work right now."
His plumbing business was doing well, and Jane was happy for him. "Its okay. We can wait."
Jane suddenly felt a hand slip into hers. Not the hand she was used to but a tiny hand. "We?" Brian asked and Jane's heart melted. "Yes, of course." She smiled softly down to the boy and Tommy's eyes showed some mixture of smile and tears. Even he grabbed the gravity of this moment.
Jane squeezed the boy's hand firmly. "We." The boy whispered as if trying to understand, sounding overwhelmed.
Maura stuck her head into the room. "Ah, I was wondering where everybody was. I was just at the toilet and then you were all gone." She smiled. "The pizza is here, Tommy, will you stay?"
Brian nodded and Tommy grinned. "Yes. Thank you."
Jane was surprised how quickly her brother and Brian bonded. It seemed to be far easier than with her and Maura. She mentioned it to the blonde as they were sitting on the deck after Tommy had left and Brian had gone to bed. The doc shrugged. "I think that it's a male thing for one and secondly it is because we did a lot of work beforehand, taking away his anxiety."
"Did we?" Jane asked and felt Maura squeeze her hand. "Yes. I think so." She said with a reassuring smile. "He didn't like me at the beginning… he always ran… not from you." Jane mouthed her thoughts wondering if Maura had an explanation for it. She saw Maura cock her head and waited patiently for her reply.
"I think that he was just afraid. After all that had happened…" the doc shrugged slightly. "and maybe he felt a connection to me because we look kind of alike." Maura finally said glancing at Jane who gazed at her feet. "Maybe I remind him of someone…" she tried in her dark voice.
"No, I don't think so. He was scared that's all. He didn't know us…. You." Jane glanced up to meet Mauras hazel eyes which were warm and soft. "But you gained his trust. It was to you he spoke first." Maura chuckled softly.
Jane nodded slightly. "I just followed my gut."
"You bribed him with unhealthy food and toys." Maura laughed. But it wasn't an accusation. More of a tease. To underline her statement Maura pushed her shoulder briefly against Janes who played along. "I didn't!" she exclaimed in mock offense.
"You know what a boy likes. You grew up with two brothers. You were a tomboy."
"I gave him a chance to help." Jane mumbled.
"Yes. You took him seriously. You saw him. He knows that." Maura silently said. "And he likes you Maybe one day he will tell us why he was scared of you. But its fine now, Jane." Their fingers entwined and Janes eyes went to their locked finger still mesmerized to have found Maura.
The brunette thought about Maura's words as she glanced into the sky. "There's more rain to come." She mumbled and felt Maura come closer. "Yes. Autumn is just around the corner." She replied.
"Its nice." Jane mumbled and felt a questioning glance at her. "Being home every day is nice." She clarified before taking a slow sip of her beer. "It's nice to have Brian." She admitted silently. Now Maura rested her head against her shoulder. "Yes. I like you being home too. And having Brian." She said and Jane heard the smile in her voice.
"Maybe we ask Tommy for a playdate with Brian." Jane spoke into the silence. She felt Maura tense beside her and looked at her. "I'm afraid that they take him away. He is slowly coming out of his shell. What if he gets used to… us and they take him away?" she silently asked changing subject, and Jane cringed. "What the hell are we going to do if they take him away?" she mumbled, taking another sip, a much bigger one this time.
The brunette glanced back to the sky and felt strangely helpless. "We need to solve this. Maybe if we solve the case he can stay." She knew that it sounded crazy, but she had a feeling that her words were right.
Maura nodded silently. "I had Susie come to take our DNA." She told Jane who raised an eyebrow. "He is a kid, but he is mature for his age. And obviously he also noticed our similar look. I talked to him and he agreed on taking the test."
Jane squeezed the docs hand which was resting on her thigh. "When.." she began and Maura immediately answered "Tomorrow. The lab was busy today."
"Okay." Jane replied and kissed Maura's forehead. "When it turns out, that you are somewhat related, we could start looking for your birth parents." The silence spread out between them. Maura had always refused to know who they were. She hated the thought of them abandoning her and feared herself going after them to find out why it had happened. Jane knew that Maura was also afraid to find out, what they were. Drug addicts? Rich people?
"Yes. It would maybe heighten the chance to find them. But what then?" she asked.
"Then we have a background. Maybe we can take it from there and see if they have anything to do with it. Hell, I don't know." Jane shrugged. She wasn't a detective. But didn't they always explore the victims life's first? Know the victim and you know about their enemies. Not that Brian was a victim. But it could have something to do with him. Jane was confused at her own thoughts and chuckled.